angst!!!! nice!!!!! I LOVE all these fics (in fact, gonna tag this as ‘fav fics’ cause I love them all that much!!!)
Steve and Tony were friends with benefits, and that was fine, until a single comment brought everything crashing down around them.
A careless comment brings out more than anyone could have expected. Can Steve fix it? Or will Iron Man be forever silent?
Tony wasn’t bitter or jealous, he was fine. Steve had to focus on helping Bucky, he understood that. He knew that in situations like this it was only natural for him to be pushed to the side. He was okay, he could handle not being the most important person in Steve’s life. He just had to stop being selfish.
Tony had finally interrupted him and told him that it was okay, he did the no-strings-attached thing a lot. “I’m kinda famous for it, actually,” he joked.
The Captain had smiled, embarrassed, and headed upstairs to clean up.
After he was long gone, Tony tried to tell himself that it was okay.
Steve never slept under the ice. Howard found him, and got him back, and Steve married Peggy, and Howard married Maria, and then there was Tony. This is the story of Tony growing up with Steve very much present in his life, and everything that changed because of it - and some things that didn’t.
LIMPET - 6k - one of my all time fav fics
Last summer, Tony stole one of Bucky’s sweaters.
It’s green, dark green, with thin navy stripes. It was too big on Bucky, so on Tony it’s almost comical. Except it’s not funny at all, the way Bucky’s stomach swoops when he sees him in it.
It was just supposed to be a harmless prank. But now Clint was in the hospital and everyone was furious at Tony, and Tony was convinced he was going to end up alone again.
Prompt A (paraphrased): Tony and Bucky get into a fight; Bucky says he’s done and storms out, so angry he doesn’t hear Tony pleading with him to come back. Bucky returns later, now calm, to find Tony having a panic attack.
combined with
Prompt B (paraphrased): the team gets in a fight and everyone is giving Tony the silent treatment and/or snapping at him. Tony’s anxiety takes over. That night Bucky finds Tony terrified to be alone and convinced that the team hates him now.
“ He smiles and answers, probably something funny, they all laugh after all. Clint doesn’t, the hawk sees right through it. It hurts, but he heard it before. Still it hurts. And it festers.”
Tony doesn’t believe he should apologize for his past.
After the sudden announcement of Steve and Bucky’s wedding, Tony realises how expendable he was to them and decides to pack up and ship out before he can further make a fool of himself. Now pregnant, heartbroken, alone and unsure of what to do now his life of relative comfort has gone, Tony can only hope the luck of the draw will allow him to birth his cub and live the demure, plain life he was ultimately destined for.
And, as the cliched trope goes, Tony was entirely wrong (as usual) and fate had another idea in store for him.
In which trouble follows Tony like a shadow and he doesn’t appreciate it, and then, it finally latches onto Steve.
AKA: Tony doesn’t like to sleep. Tony doesn’t like his body. Tony doesn’t like his asshole husband and the kidnapping and rescue that follows. Tony doesn’t like being sick and he sure as hell doesn’t like Steve (his no longer an asshole husband) and Bucky there to witness it. Tony doesn’t like getting crushed by buildings, but he’d rather it be him than his (no longer an asshole) husband, and thanks Bucky, but he doesn’t need you to rescue him either, because you’re still kind of an asshole even if he loves you.
Also, Steve, why’d you break Bucky’s arm? Very asshole-y.
(Basically Tony has been given enough misfortunes and would really appreciate somebody sending a few serendipities to his P.O. box through express mail, thanks, that’d be great.)
They hadn’t meant to hurt him, it just hadn’t occurred to Steve and Bucky and talk to Tony first. By the time they did think to talk to Tony, it was too late.
OR
The one where there’s a wedding, a break down, and Tony really just needs a hug.